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Vegetarian diets are being promoted as an alternative to feed farmed fish in an effort to lessen the strain on over-fished oceans.

Researchers and entrepreneurs are seeking sustainable ways to supply food pellets that aren’t made from wild fish.

As reported in KQED Quest, millions of tons of anchovies, sardines and mackerel are being caught to feed farm-raised fish like salmon. In many cases, it can take three pounds of wild fish to grow one pound of farmed fish.

By 2030 nearly two-thirds of seafood worldwide will be farm-raised, according to a World Bank report.

The US Department of Agriculture has spent the past ten years researching alternative diets that include plants, animal processing products and single-cell organisms like yeast, bacteria, and algae.

The USDA has proven that eight species of carnivorous fish – white sea bass, walleye, rainbow trout, cobia, arctic char, yellowtail, Atlantic salmon and coho salmon – can get enough nutrients from these alternative sources without eating other fish.

TwoXsea supplies rainbow trout to stores and restaurants in San Francisco and says it is the only seafood distributor in the country to raise carnivorous farmed fish on an entirely vegetarian diet.

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Reader Comments

A much better idea: leave the fish alone and lets us go vegan instead. It’s a much more humane, healthful, and environmentally responsible way to eat. It also can be very easy, affordable, and delicious. What’s not to love?! Marvelous vegan seafood recipes, products and more can be found by Googling: vegan seafood.